Currently abhishekams, archanas etc.

are allowed to be sponsored for specific

deities only. There is no provision for regular devotees to sponsor routine, dailypujas. This proposal will take care of that gap.Nithya sarva devata seva (the document covers that) is a scheme of dhaanamsby devotees in an affordable scale to enable them sponsor routine, daily pujas to alldevataas. This DOES NOT INCLUDE Vishesha puja DONE DURING SPECIAL DAYS.Usually BOT/OC /Taskforce decides on this. Currently Vastram sponsorship followsthis proposal and is successful in enabling grassroot-level dhaanam.What does Nithya sarva seva mean?Nithya sarva seva is the complete repertoire of the routine puja done to the deitiesat the temple without fail. It is one of the primary duties of the priests and the primeresponsibility of the temple. This includes Abhishekam, alamkaram, archana,naivedyam for each deity. The frequency of the routine varies: all deities haveabhishekam every week; some deities have abhishekam daily; others, just once aweek; Nataraja - 6 times a year only. Based on the fixed routines, the puja has to becarried out.What does it include?Each of the 4 parts cited above include materials (dravyams). For example,abhishekam are done for different deities each day as part of the weekly routine inaddition to those that have one daily. Garlands are used for those deities any givenday. Common naivedyam is done in large quantities which is distributed asprasadam in small cups daily. Seasonal puja is done (like Nataraja) a few times ayear. Dravyams used for these 4 components form the material cost. There willalways be willing sponsors to cover the cost of the materials for this nithya sarvadevata seva. Many pujas include homam (navagraha, sankata hara Chaturthi etc.)which has some materials.How can the nithya seva cost be quantified?Any of the routine puja should consist of Abhishekam, alamkaram, archana andnaivedyam. There are incidental expenditures for the deities like milk to allsanctums (fixed amount of milk), cleaning vastrams, and energy bill for naivedyamin the kitchen. By quantifying amount for each deity based on the respectiveroutine, an annual cost and thereby, a daily cost can be calculated.But this is alaborious process. Instead, in a given month, one can expect around $4000 bespent on these routine and daily araadhana. This amounts to $125 for one day ofsarva devatha seva.Is there a tradition to do like this?Yes, it is traditional to do dhaanam or kattalai of materials (or the cost of thematerials for individual parts of daily puja). For example, a part of the harvestwould be written off to the temple for naivedyam; people would donate a piece ofland for madapalli (kitchen); people still donate oil and flowers for daily puja on alife-time basis. Even now, some SSVT devotees have donated for flowers on aroutine basis.How can this noble concept of dravya dhaanam for nithya devata seva betranslated to our times?

By breaking down the materials used for abhishekam alamkaram, archana andaradhana, and naivedyam, we can specify a token amount for each kind ofmaterials. For example, for alamkaram and archana, flowers are used as garlandsand pieces. Grocery items are used for naivedyam and for abhishekam. We canencourage the devotees to do dhaanam of the puja materials as a token amountwith that purpose. Allow Dhaanam of any of the different kinds of PujaMaterials as a token amount. PLEASE REFER TO THE FOLLOWING TABLEFOR A **SUGGESTED** LIST.

Token amount per

day$10$5$35$21$21$10$10$21$10$10$10$10$10$10$10

$21$21$21

dravyam

$21

Dravyampushpam andvastramAnnam

$35$50$75$125

How is this different from what we already have in our

temple services list?

Currently, SSVT allows individual pujas to specific deities. For example, one canrequest a specific abhishekam for $101-150 any day or sponsor weeklyabhishekams for specific deities like Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi for $25. One cansponsor garlands by talking to the office. ON special days, targeted pujas are priceddifferently - for example, mahotsavams, deepavali mahalakshmi puja etc. Some bigdonors get to do whole day puja.Nithya Sarva Devatha Seva option(sponsoring pujas of all the deities scheduled in a given day) at anaffordable scale is not currently available.What is the benefit of this scheme overall?There are two important benefits:1) For the devotees: they get to do dhaanam of things in small scale todeities; if it is fairly priced they would repeat that process2) For the temple: by recovering the cost of puja materials, the savings canbe moved to corpus fund for long term temple maintenance.What are the other types of dhaanam options?Vidya daanamThe Board should start a savings plan for the education (traditional andcontemporary combined) of the children of priests who work at SSVT beyondprobation. Devotees can be encouraged to pay into this pool which will benefit onlythe priest children for their education purposes.Anna DaanamLet temple allow the devotees to sponsor for anna dhaanam (food boxes or credittokens) every holiday (weekend, national holidays etc.). Mark tables and space inthe cafeteria as Anna dhaanam table" in the cafeteria where food boxes can be leftfor people to take as long as they are available.Note:Paanakam (sweetened, lime water) and Buttermilk can be included under thisheader during summer months. Pongal can be included in Dhanur maasam/margazhi. Rotis and upma during sivarathri; Milk after Satyanarayana puja andnavarathri chandi homam.By opening up sponsorships of different types anna dhanam, the burden on thetemple to do this will only be minimal or none.